Into the Snake's Nest
by etherally-iridescent
Summary: After a night out Hermione finds that her world has been flipped upside down. Enemies become friends and friends become enemies. And she must decide where her heart truly lies. EWE! FirstFic! InProgress!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi, this is my first fanfic, so errors and mistakes are inevitable. If you see any please don't be afraid to review and tell me, I'd be glad of it. I'm going to try and update regularly, hopefully every week or every two weeks. The title will probably change in the future, it's currently Into the Snake's Nest, but I'll let you know if it will. Thank you and enjoy :)**

* * *

Draco Malfoy looked at himself in the mirror, a look of placid contempt on his face. He didn't want to be doing this. And he certainly didn't want to be doing it with his two best mates watching from a distance and laughing at his mistakes.

Theo and Blaise had somehow managed to persuade him to go out drinking with them, specifically so he could hook up with some busty witch, shag her in some back alley or unclean toilet cubicle and leave her there as they moved onto the next place. All so Draco wouldn't be 'such a moody arse all the time' as Theo had said to him on numerous occasions.

He'd finally given into the constant nagging and agreed to come out on ONE night and have ONE drink with them, he wouldn't - however - consent to the shagging of a random girl, despite how much they said he needed it.

He hadn't really tried to dress up for the outing, but he had shaved, for the first time in about six months. He ran his hand over his chin and feeling his jaw line. He could barely remember what he had looked like without a beard. Now he could see. He liked it.

A knock at the bathroom door pulled his eyes away from his reflection, "Come one Draco, we have a town to tear up," the distinct voice of Blaise worked its way through the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Give me one minute."

He opened the draw under the sink and pulled out a smaragdine aftershave bottle, spraying it carefully onto his neck. Sandalwood and cinnamon clouded his nostrils as his head was enveloped by the fine spray.

"Draco. Mate." Blaise again.

Draco opened the door and gave his friend a crocodilian grin, bearing his white teeth, "I'm ready."

"'Bout time. We're going to The Leaky Cauldron first and then we're gonna go to that new bar that opened last week in Diagon Alley, Theo got us on the list." Blaise spoke at Draco as they walked to Draco's living room.

Theo was stood by the fireplace, floo powder already pinched between his fingers, "Alright! Let's go!" He tossed the powder, "The Leaky Cauldron!", and was sucked into the fireplace by the emerald flames.

Blaise pushed Draco into the fireplace, "You first, you're not getting out on this by tricking me into going first."

Draco rolled his eyes and took a some of the floor powder between his slim fingers, uttering the same words as Theo and he too was sucked away by the flames.

* * *

Hermione was sat alone at the bar in The Leaky Cauldron, feeling extremely self conscious and exposed by her lack of company. She could always rely on Ginny to turn up, but she couldn't ever rely on her to be on time. It was getting busier as well, the floo flaring up every few seconds with a new witch or wizard coming out all dressed up and ready to go out. She had been speaking the barmaid for a while, recognising her from the halls of Hogwarts, but as soon as the patrons flooded in she had sped off to begin pouring and delivering drinks.

She'd stopped glancing at the floo, knowing that Ginny probably wouldn't be coming through anytime soon. Hermione inwardly scolded herself for arriving on time , she knew what Ginny was like and yet she still decided to be punctual . So instead of savouring a good fifteen minutes extra at home she had come to sit exposed and alone at a bar, just waiting for the paparazzi to come along and photograph her lonely state or for some stranger to come up to her and start hitting on her. Either could happen and had happened in the past.

A man leaned over her, catching the attention of the barmaid, "Love, can I have three pints of whatever is on the house please and three fire whiskeys?" Judging by the blush that rose from the girl's neck Hermione could only assume that not only was this man attractive, but he had probably winked at her. But attractive or not, her was still leaning over her, pushing her body uncomfortably close to the slightly sticky bar counter.

"Excuse me," she said, craning her neck to look up at the man. She recognised his features, the blonde hair and bright blue eyes, but she couldn't quite figure out who he was, "You're crushing me a bit."

The man looked down and caught her eye, "Shit, sorry." He pulled back and Hermione straightened up, pushing her hair out of her face and bending her back to crack the kinks that had quickly formed, "Wait, Granger?"

"Hmm," she looked round at the man who was staring at her with shock in his eyes. At this different angle she recognised his face. The strong jaw line and the cupid lips, "Nott?"

"Never thought I'd see you here Granger, alone as well. Bit depressing isn't it?" said Theodore Nott.

She'd never hated Nott at school and she knew he'd never been involved in the war. Whilst his father had committed some savage and disgusting crimes against humanity, Theo had disappeared with his mother, setting up a safe house for them in Wales. He'd been relaying what little information he knew about Voldemort from years of living with his father to the Order anonymously. He'd come forward after the war had finished, him and his mother appearing after Voldemort had been defeated at the Battle of Hogwarts.

"You could say that couldn't you? I'm waiting for someone." she smiled at him, glad that he was being kind. They'd never really spoken before.

"Hot date?" he joked, a cheeky grin spread across his face.

"Unfortunately no, just Ginny," Hermione responded.

"Unfortunately for who?" the seat next to her was freed when a large party all pulled away from the bar all at once. He dragged the chair a tad closer to hers and plonked himself confidently down on it, "Not me, that's for certain."

"Excuse me?"

"Well. I'm just saying, if you were meeting someone that would be unfortunate for me, I just happened to come across this amazing woman sat alone at a bar and thought to myself, 'Wow, I'd love to ask her out sometime' and when I did ask her out she'd say 'No sorry, I'm here on a date. But since you're not on a date, I can ask you out and you won't have a reason to say no." Hermione was taken aback. It had been a while since anyone had asked her out anywhere, or even showed any interest in her. The newspapers printed her as a sad, boring girl with no life and a frigid personality and no one wants to go out with her do they? But here was someone - an attractive someone - who had not only showed interest, but seemed as though they were going on to pursue that interest.

"What if I don't like Slytherin boys? Wouldn't that be a reason to say no?" she quipped.

"I'd just have to charm you into liking Slytherin boys," he winked.

She was about to respond when she felt her phone rumble in her bag.

 _Sorry lovely, the babysitter cancelled last minute so I won't be able to make it out tonight. I'll make it up to you though, I promise. Love ya! G xxx_

Hermione read the text from Ginny and sighed. "I'm sorry I have to go. My friend just cancelled on me." She put her phone back in her bag and stood up from the chair.

Theo's hand grabbed her arm, "Join me." It wasn't a question.

"Don't tell me you're here alone as well."

"No, I'm with some friends, but they won't mind if you join us. Come on! We're going to that new bar that opened the other week. You know the one? The Crimson Blur."

"Ron's bar? I'd rather not thank you." She pulled her arm out of his grasp. She hadn't really been looking forward to this night much, really only agreeing to it so she could see GInny again as it has been forever since they last spoke properly and she'd promise that they would avoid Ron and his new bar like they were both the Black Plague.

"Oh, I forgot about you and Weasley." she turned to walk away, but Theo scampered round her and stood in her path, "All the more reason to go. Show up with your new man, make him jealous, ey?"

"Oh, and you'd be that new man would you?" she placed her hand on her hip and giggled at him.

"Well, if you insist!" he threaded his arm through hers and dragged her away from the entrance.

"Hey!" she protested, "I didn't agree to anything Nott!"

"I go by Theo these days. It's a bit more civilised, don't you think? A bit less Death Eatery? Not that I ever was one, but there are things that are suggest it."

She was shocked by his throw away Death Eater comment, despite the truth in what he said. Still, she liked his cheerful attitude and cheeky jokes, he made her feel at ease around him, like she didn't have to uphold any sort of persona, like she could be herself.

"Aye up Draco, Theo has gone and got himself a girl already. She must be something if he would give up the chase this early on." Blaise said, eying Theo was was leaning in closely to a brown haired girl at the bar.

Draco didn't respond, instead choosing to look around the pub with a vacant look in his eye. He only looked back towards his friends when a cold glass was pressed into his relaxed hand. He smiled at Theo and took the pint glass, taking a huge gulp of the bitter ale, wiping his mouth and then smacking it onto the table. And that's when he saw her.

A shy looking Hermione Granger had approached the table with caution, as though she was approaching a nest of snakes, which in a sense she was. She'd changed in the years since he last saw her, she seemed taller and held herself with more confidence, yet he could see in the way her now wavy hair fell into her face that she wasn't as outgoing as most of the women Draco knew. Her skin was a creamy white and freckles were scattered across the bridge of her nose and cheeks like stars in the sky. And her brown eyes, on closer inspection, were a golden colour speckled with green - not muddy like he had always thought. There was nothing muddy about her anymore.

"Granger?" he said, hoping the collision of contrasting thoughts in his head didn't didn't come across in his voice.

"Hi," her arms were folded across her chest, releasing on to give a small awkward wave matched with a small awkward smile.

"Well hello there Granger, enchanté," Blaise leaned across the table and grabbed that awkward hand and pressed his lips to it. _Typical,_ Draco thought, _Anything to woo a women, they're all after her._

Granger looked like she had no idea how to respond, like she had just approached that snakes nest and instead of the snakes lashing out and biting her, they were slithering around her wrists and ankles and caressing her skin with their pointed tongues. He wouldn't know how to react either.

" _Hermione,"_ Theo emphasised her name, "Is spending the night with us as her dear friend Weasley has cancelled on her. And I, being a gentleman, came to the rescue, of course," he put a hand on her shoulder, almost possessively. Draco could tell that she wasn't used to being touched in such a way, as she almost instantly seemed to shrink in on herself.

"A gentleman? Is that what you call being a playboy these days?" Blaise asked dryly, "You don't want him Granger, he's terrible, you need someone more like me. A solid and reliable rock."

Draco scoffed, "You don't want either of them. They're as bad as each other in that respect," he said.

"So I'd want someone like you instead?" she asked. His head snapped to hers, their eyes meeting and locking together.

Hermione could feel his eyes boring into her head, like they were burning straight through her brain and gazing at her thoughts, trying to figure out why'd she said that. Honestly, she was trying to figure out why she'd said it again. She might have relaxed being around Theo, but as soon as she'd seen the people she would spending the rest of her time out with she had instantly tensed up. Blaise like Theo, was neutral in the war, but Malfoy… He'd been one of them, a Death Eater. He'd committed crimes and he'd been to Azkaban. And yet, here she was, propositioning him brazenly in front of his friends. Maybe spending time in the snake pit would impact her in more ways than she thought.

Draco saw her body relax, second after she had uttered the words, as though the confident side to her had won a battle in her mind. She dropped her arms to her side and tilted her head questioningly, "Well?"

"You don't want someone like me Granger. Too much baggage," he cleared his throat and took another gulp of his ale, "So Weasel stood you up did he. Shit boyfriend."

"Actually it was Ginny. Don't you read the papers?"

"No,"

"Ron cheated on me. It all came out last month, in the papers, Merlin forbid," Hermione practically spat out Ron's name, as though it was acid burning her tongue.

Theo and Blaise were looking at the two of them conversing with some curiosity, they had no idea which way this encounter could have gone, or which way it still could go. Probably with one of them cursing the other with an extremely complex or hard to reverse spell.

"So the She Weasel then?" Draco decided to avoid the topic of Ron, it was obviously a sore spot for her.

"Ginny." Hermione said, confirming her distaste of the phrase 'She Weasel' with those two syllables. Draco was amused by it, he'd never met anyone before you had been so good at getting their point across in so few words. She had a knack for enunciation.

"Ah, the Spitfire?" Blaise inquired, "Always wanted to have a go at her."

Hermione looked at him, exclaiming "She's married!"

"So? I was always good at turning them to my way of thinking. My Italian charms are just too difficult to resist," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Hermione laughed.

"She's happily married, and has a child. Please don't try anything!" she spoke in a jokey tone.

Blaise held up his hands, "I promise, I won't. A Zabini always keeps his oaths."

Theo clapped his hands together, making everyone in the party jump slightly at the unexpectedly sharp noise, "Down those drinks boys, we have a new bar to visit and an ex boyfriend to make jealous," he winked at Hermione.

Hermione smiled at him, though wondered why he was always winking at people, no one she knew ever did anything like that, but this group seemed to be winking all over the place and at any pretty girl who seemed to come across their path. Maybe it was a Slytherin thing or maybe just a playboy thing.

* * *

The Crimson Blur was packed, and it was really more of a club than a bar. Load music was playing as magical lights spiralled around the ceiling, flashing different colours in time with the beat whilst the people on the dance floor all seemed to writhe and move together as one entity.

When they entered the club Theo's warm hand grasp hers and began to guide her through the mass of people with expert precision. The four of them then were ejected from the crowed when all the lights went dark and none of them could see the person next to them. Hermione tripped over someone and began to fall to the floor, only to be caught around the waist by one of her three new friends.

The music flared up loudly and the lights went with it, blinding them all with a red and pink flash, before they settled back into their original pattern, illuminating the private seating area that they had been thrust into.

The arm around her waist was strong and had kept ahold of her even after the lights went up and she had stabilised on her feet. The hairs on it were a fine white, barely visible in the low light.

"Thank you," she said looking round to view her saviour, and her eyes once against locked with those of Malfoy.

His eyes weren't like any colour she had ever seen before. They were a deep grey colour, with speckles of blue and silver running through them and a bright silver ring running around the edge of the iris. They looked like perfectly crafted marbles set into a beautifully carved statue.

"It's okay."

"This looks like a good place to sit," Theo said loudly, breaking the tension between the blonde and the brunette, Draco releasing Hermione swiftly and looking away from her.

He couldn't deny the thoughts that she was beautiful now. There was just something about her simple face that stood out from everyone else he had set eyes on. Maybe it was the way the events of her past hadn't stained themselves across her skin or settled into the lines of his face like his head. She still looked pure… Angelic even, as though she had never witnessed sin in her life.

He looked over to the place where Theo gesturing. A rounded booth surrounded by sheer curtains that didn't quite conceal what was happening on the other side of them, but still provided enough privacy so you couldn't see who the people on the other side were.

The all shuffled in, and Hermione found herself seated between Malfoy and Theo.

A waitress came over and took their drink order. The booths were charmed with a sound muffling spell, so the racket of the party going on outside was like white noise in the background and they were able to place their orders easily and with no fuss or having to shout.

As the night went on Hermione decided that she liked the three Slytherin men that she was sharing a table with, despite their being flirty and suggestive, it was people carefree and cheerful like them that she was glad she was surrounded with. People without children to look after and other halfs to complain about. They had real conversations about real things and not just what baby Lily had thrown up the night before. Hermione felt slightly ashamed to be thinking so about her friend Ginny, but she didn't understand what it was like to be single and be surrounded with happy couples, unintentionally flaunting her happy marriage in front of Hermione whenever they got together.

They had had quite a lot to drink between them and Hermione found that she was getting extremely friendly with the people who she had swore to never speak to as a child, in fact she was even starting to like Theo, his boyish charm made her laugh and she couldn't deny his good looks. Blaise was flirting with every witch that walked past and even some of the more attractive wizards. It was only Malfoy who she couldn't really get a read on. He was quiet and subdued, still drinking as much as Blaise and Theo, yet seemingly much better at handling his liquor.

They had just ordered their 6th round of drinks when a couple, obviously caught up in each too much to notice that the booth was taken, fell onto the seat beside Blaise and continued to heavily make out despite his outraged cry. Blaise, so taken aback by the sudden intrusion of his personal space, flung himself back onto Malfoy, who in turn fell onto Hermione. He put his hands out in front of him to catch his fall, which resulted in him covering her body with his and their noses almost touching.

Blaise pushed the entangled couple away from him, exclaiming, "Get a fucking room you twats," in a disgusted voice.

The couple scrambled to rectify themselves, the female clearly pulling her top back down to cover herself and the male strategically placing his hands in front of his crotch.

"I'm sorry, but this is my fucking room. This is my private booth. So I should tell you to get a fucking room," the male's eyes focused on Hermione, "Fuck Hermione?"

Everyone in the booth turned to look at Hermione, who in turn squinted her eyes to try and identify the man. She couldn't really identify his features, yet the colour of his hair…

"Hi Ron…" she placed her hands on Malfoy's chest and slowly pushed him away from her and sat up herself.

"You slut."

His words were blunt and forceful.

"You're already sleeping with other people! And fucking Slytherins for that matter. What are you just their little mudblood whore now? You wouldn't put out for me, so why are you doing it for them?" Ron advanced towards the table aggressively, his voice rising as he spat his words out.

Before Hermione could even respond all three of the men at pulled their wands out and pointed them at Ron.

"Don't insult her. You cheated on her remember. Don't be such a hypocritical bastard. And don't you ever call our friend that word. Ever," Theo stood up from the table and directed his wand at Ron's neck, "Do you understand me?"

"You can't threaten me. I could get you sent to Azkaban for just threatening me, fucking Death Eaters, you should already be rotting there!"

Their discussion was causing quite a commotion in the club and other people were looking around and realising what was going on. Hermione swore she saw the tell tale signs of a camera flash. She could almost see the headline now, _Redhaired member of the Golden Trio confront ex-girlfriend and her new suitors,_ followed by a lengthy article dragging the incorrect detail of their relationship back to the spotlight and then highlighting her as a slut or a whore or something equally as horrible.

Ron started forward against, wiping his wand out of his pocket and pushing it into Theo's throat. Theo in the same instance did the same to Ron and the two men stood in a stalemate, their wands pressed into the other's neck.

Hermione stood up, and put her hands on Theo's shoulders, "We should go," she said into his ear, "I told you this was a bad idea. Come on," she tugged on his arm.

"No. I think I'm going to stay here and teach this one a lesson. Draco, take Hermione home. Blaise, stay with me."

Hermione bit her lip, "Be careful… And thank you…" she kissed him gently on the cheek. Ron's face went even redder, if it was possible. She then looked at Ron, "Please don't do this, we don't have to be enemies Ron. I don't want to be enemies…"

"You lost any fucking right to be friends with me the moment you even spoke to one of these lot. Go with you death eater boyfriend you whore. I'll deal with this twat!"

Hermione went to say something, but she felt a strong hand grip her arm and then the squeezing contractions of apparition, whisking her away from the situation.

Merlin, she hated Ron in that moment.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Second chapter! I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Hermione felt her feet hit hard ground and the hand on her arm loosened it's grip but didn't let go. She looked around and saw the somber face of Draco Malfoy looking back at her.

"I would have taken you home. But I don't know where you live."

Hermione looked around her. They were stood on a quiet street in what appeared to be a muggle neighbourhood. A block of fancy looking flats towered above her, "Where are we then?" she asked.

"My home," he said sheepishly, "I didn't know where to go, I just thought I should get you out of there before he tried something. Has he always been so violent?"

"Not really… He's just angry, with me, with himself. He's never known how to deal with his anger very well." her mind wandered back through all the times when Ron had been angry, he made rash decisions that he regretted immensely later on. She knew by the morning he would be himself again, but she didn't know if she would forgive him this time. The things he accused of her and the thing - _that word_ \- that he had called her. She didn't think she could forgive him for that. But then again, he she was, conversing quite easily with a man who had called her that all through school.

"Do you want to come in?" his voice dragged her out of her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Do you want to come in?" he repeated, "If you hadn't notice, it's pretty cold out here."

"Why?"

"Why? Well I do believe it has something to do with the weather Granger, see those -"

Hermione laughed, "No! Not why is it cold! Why are you inviting me in?"

"Oh.. I just don't think you should go home right now when Weasley is so angry. He might come over and try something," he lied through his teeth. He didn't know why he was inviting her in, maybe it was something to do with the amount of alcohol he had consumed or maybe it was the way the light from the streetlamp was catching in her hair and making it look golden and ethereal. Or maybe he didn't want to on his own in the house.

"That does make sense, okay."

"Okay?" he'd asked not expecting her to say yes. He was glad she had.

"Yes, Malfoy. Okay. I've accepted you offer. Now can we go it, it's very cold out here if you hadn't noticed," she smiled at him, throwing his earlier words back at him.

"Follow me then."

He lead her into the building through a rotating door, squeezing closely together into one of the four quarters, shuffling to match the speed of rotation and then burst of of the other side into the lobby of the building.

"I always loved these doors as a child," Hermione mused, "Whenever my mum took me to a shop with one I would spin around and around in it until I got dizzy or my mum could catch me."

"I can't imagine a baby Granger," Malfoy responded, guiding Hermione past the lobby desk, where a smartly dressed man smiled and nodded at them, "Evening Tom," Malfoy nodded back.

"Good evening Mr Malfoy, I can see you have a guest with you, will you be requiring anything to eat or drink? I can alert the night time kitchen staff for you if it pleases you?"

Malfoy looked at Hermione, "Are you hungry?"

She nodded, "I am actually I would kill for some cheesy chips right now," she giggled. Cheesy chips had always been one of her favourite foods. Her mother would always make homemade chunky chips and served them with a lovely cheddar whenever she was sad or feeling out of sorts and over the years it had become her ultimate comfort food. She felt like she needed some comfort after the encounter she had just had.

Tom smiled, "Of course Miss. Do you have any preferences?"

"Oh, chunky chips and lots and lots cheddar cheese if it isn't too much to ask?"

"No Miss. I shall let the kitchen know straight away, they will be sent to Mr Malfoy's apartment. Anything for you Mr Malfoy?"

Malfoy was looking at Hermione with a smile on his face, amazed that the girl that he had bullied all through life could relax and recover from horrible experiences so quickly, "Do you know what Tom, I'll have the same as her. He pulled a £10 note out of his jacket pocket and handed it to him, "Give the chef my thanks."

"She will be most delighted with this. Have a good night," he walked over to the lift and pushed the button, calling it for them. It arrived with a _ping_ and the doors slide open.

"Good night Tom," Malfoy said as he walked into the lift and pressed one of the buttons himself. The doors slid closed and the lift rattled into life.

They rode up together in near silence, both of them very aware of the others presence next to them. Draco noted that even though the lift did usually take a couple of minutes to travel up to his apartment, it seemed to be taking years with her stood next to him.

After about a minute and thirty seconds, or in his mind about a year and six months Hermione let out a loud breath and said, "Merlin, Malfoy! Why is this taking so long? Do you live on the top floor or something?"

"Yes," he responded, "I have the penthouse apartment. Did you expect anything less of me Granger?"

"I wish you wouldn't call me Granger," she said.

"Then don't call me Malfoy."

"Okay, Draco…" she pulled a face and stuck her tongue out, wiggling it about in the air for a second, "Gosh that felt so strange, Draco… Draco...Draco," she repeated his name a few times, beginning to mutter it under her breath.

"That's my name Hermione, don't wear it out," he chucked. She really was something, he just wondered why he'd never seen it before. Honestly, he was probably too blinded by his prejudice to have noticed. Not any more it seemed, everything she did seemed to enamour him even more than that last.

"Say it again?"

"What? Don't wear it out?"

"No! My name, say it again?"

"Hermione… Hermione Granger…" he looked at her and crinkled his forehead in a silent question of _am I doing this right?_

"I never really get called Hermione anymore. It's nice to hear it from someone, especially from you," she said it quietly, like she was embarrassed to be admitting that fact.

"Well then, I shall always call you Hermione from now on," the lift pinged and the doors slid open, "We're here now," he stepped out of the lift.

Hermione walked forward and ahead of him, turning in a slow circle taking in his large apartment, "Wow… This place is amazing Draco!"

The lift opened up straight into the large open plan apartment. The exterior walls were made up entirely of windows except one, where a large crackling fireplace stood with a large muggle TV mounted on the wall above it. A large black cracked leather sofa was in front of it and an extremely comfy looking white rug. A beautiful black modern grand piano was positioned on a raise area of flooring in the corner, silhouetted by a backdrop of the sky behind it. But above all else, was the thousands and thousands of books that took up one of the walls on both the first and second levels, the second level only accessible by climbing some stairs and walking along a balcony that overlooked the living room.

"You place the piano?" Hermione asked, walking towards it and running her fingers daintily over the keys.

Draco shrugged, "I used to when I was younger, but I didn't get much practice during the war,"

She sat down on the stool, her fingers hovering over the keys for a couple of seconds before lowering them down and pressing the keys. She too hadn't played for years, yet the chords and the melody came to her as though it was second nature to her.

"Fur Elise," he whispered as he watched her fingers word the keys. She had lovely hands, long fingers and slim wrists, perfect for playing the piano. Her nails painted a deep metallic blue colour.

"Hello darling! I didn't think you'd be back so soon!" a voice rang clear through the living room and Hermione jumped, splatting her hands down on the keys and making a horrendous noise. Both her and Draco span around to see who had spoken.

"Mother? What are you doing here?" he asked Narcissa Malfoy, who approached him and gave him a kiss on each cheek.

"Scorpios wasn't sleeping well at the Manor, so I thought I would bring him back to sleep in his own bed. I didn't know you would be bring back company…" she trailed off and looked at Hermione.

"It's okay mother. Is he asleep now?"

"Yes, went out like a light."

"Thank you, you did the right thing. And it's I didn't think I was going to have company either. This is Hermione, her ex-boyfriend was ready to attack her at that new club. Theo and Blaise are dealing with him and I whisked her away to safety," he gestured to Hermione to come forward.

"Nice to meet you Mrs Malfoy," she held out her hand.

"Nonsense, it's Narcissa!" she pulled Hermione into an almost rib crushing hug, "Oh aren't you beautiful? I always thought so, don't you think so Draco?"

"Yes mother, I agree," he nodded, blushing slightly.

"It's been horrible what they have been writing in the papers about you. If you ask me, it's that Weasley that's at fault not you. I mean he cheated on you for Merlin's sake! No one can seem to understand that though!"

"Mother," Draco said sharply, informing her that this probably wasn't what Hermione wanted to talking about in that moment.

"Will you be okay with Scorpius now Draco? You haven't had too much to drink?"

"I should be fine mother, he'll probably sleep through the night now he's home. We'll be fine in the morning," he put his hand on Narcissa's should reassuringly.

"I'll be off then. Enjoy your night," she smiled at them and kissed Draco on the cheek.

"Goodnight Mrs Mal- Narcissa," Hermione said.

"Goodnight darlings!" she gave them a little wave goodbye and then disapparated from view in a loud crack.

"Draco," Hermione turned to him, "Who is Scorpius?"

"My son," now he was speaking quietly, like he had something to be ashamed of.

"I didn't know you had a son."

"No. Not many people did."

"Where is his mother?"

"Dead."

"I'm sorry, do you mind if I ask what happened?"

"Only if you tell me what really happened between you and Weasley?"

"Deal," she smiled and held her hand out to shake on the agreement.

"Deal," he chuckled slightly and firmly shook her hand.

The sound of a doorbell rang and Draco headed towards the lift. The doors opened and Tom stood inside holding two large bowls of cheesy chips. Draco took them and said something to Tom that Hermione couldn't hear.

He handed her one of the bowls which was almost overflowing, "I am so ready for this!" she said, picking up one of the chips, the cheese all stringy, and posting the whole thing directly into her mouth and bit down. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth panting heavily, "Hot! Hot! Hot, oh my gosh it's so hot," words muffled by the oversized chip burning her tongue.

Draco started laughing, a small chuckle at first which continued into crippling stomach pain the more she gasped a breathed. Through his own laughter he managed to make his way to the kitchen and filled a glass with cold water from the tap.

When Hermione got her hands on it she downed the liquid in four gulps. Panting once she'd done.

"You should be careful. Those chips are hot," Draco said, pointing at the bowl still in her hands.

"Oh shut up," Hermione hit him on the chest gently with her hand.

"Come on. I'll tell you about Scorpius' mum now."

They sat down on the sofa together, Hermione taking off her heeled shoes and tucking her legs underneath her and Draco took his blazer jacket off and unbuttoned the top couple of buttons on his shirt.

"I was married to my betrothed pretty much as soon as the war ended, a month or two after my 18th birthday. Astoria was only 16… I didn't love her at the time, but I had a deep affection for her. I knew I could love her. She was sweet and kind, unlike Daphne her older sister and I just wanted to look after he. She was still a child really. Her mother slipped a fertility potion into her drink at the wedding reception. She got pregnant. I really did fall in love with her then. Just the idea that she was carrying my baby… She died giving birth to him. One of her ancestors was cursed, making childbirth for any Greengrass women extremely risky. Her mother knew it and she didn't believe it. Daphne and Astoria are actually the first female Greengrass' to be born since the curse was cast. Their parents are divorced now, her father blamed his wife for her death. I was widowed and a single father at the age of 19. It has been difficult but I wouldn't give up Scorpius for the world."

Tears had formed in his eyes whilst he told Hermione about his wife. She could tell he missed her dearly, even if they had only known each other properly for a year or so. She put her hand on his and squeezed it, "I had no idea."

"Me and Scorp always go and visit her grave on Mother's Day, her birthday and Christmas. I'm going to make sure that he knows who his mum is," he turned his hand over and laced his fingers with hers. The physical contact was making him feel better, "Tell me about you and Ron."

Hermione bit her lip, unsure of whether something as seemingly trivial as her break up could follow something as deep as Draco's loss.

He saw her internal conflict and squeezed her fingers, mimicking what she had done to him, "Go on, tell me."

"Basically, I told Ron I wanted to wait until marriage. I guess he put up with me for a couple of years and then decided I wasn't worth the wait so he left me and told the papers that I was a neglectful shrewd bitch. I found him bed with another woman when I came home from work one day, I think it had been going on for a while."

"I always thought he was a knob," he was being entirely truthful, "You deserve better."

"I think it might be pretty difficult, because of what everyone thinks of me now. I'm not sure which is worse, being accused of being a harlot or a prude,"

"I'm glad we saw you tonight Hermione."

Hermione blinked in surprise, slightly taken aback by the fact that he was actually happy that he'd met her, "I'm glad too. Who knew Slytherins were so good at having a good time?" she laughed.

"Everyone knew! We used to have parties in the common room all the time. We'd lock the third years down in the dorms and not let them out whilst we partied. It was great!"

"That's terrible!" an agast Hermione put her hand to her mouth in feigned shock, "At least we never locked the younger years away."

"You went to parties Granger?"

"Well… No, not really. I used to sit there and make sure that none of the younger years drank anything and make sure that nothing was broken. Things like that, a designated driver so to speak…"

"A what?" Draco was confused.

"A designated driver, someone at muggle parties who doesn't drink so they're below the limit to drive everyone home in a car."

"Muggles are strange. I don't know how'd they function without the floo network or apparating."

The chips had finally cooled down enough to eat and Hermione's mouth was too full to reply, so she just nodded and smiled. They sat their in a comfortable silence whilst they ate their food, the empty pits of their stomachs slowly filling.

Once she had finished Hermione yawned and leaned back onto the sofa, closing her eyes for a second, yet unintentionally nodding off into the world of dreams.

* * *

A loud banging on the front door awoke Harry, Ginny and baby Lily from their peaceful slumber. Harry muttering swear words under his breath at the person at the door and Ginny doing the same, because they had woken her little girl up.

Harry rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he trudged down the stairs, his bare feet getting gradually colder on the wooden floors.

He pulled the door open without even checking to see who was on the otherside, foul language poised on the tip of his tongue. Before he could say anything what seemed like a tomato with orange hair barged into his house spouting some nonsense about 'Hermione' and 'bloody Slytherins'.

Harry squinted, his eyes still blurry even with his glasses on, "Ron? What are you doing here?"

"That fucking bitch! She's fucking those fucking Slytherins! I bet she is as well. Merlin, I swear that I was the only good thing in her life and now she's crumbling without me. Losing her pretentious act now!"

"Ron?"

"What?" Ron snapped, he felt so highly strung that anyone that plucked at his strings would simply snap them and send him careering across the room like he had been leased from an elastic band.

"Please leave. It's 3am. You woke Lily up, you woke Ginny up. We need our sleep. We are parents now, we need our space for a while. You can't just come over whenever you get angry anymore. I'm sorry. Now, again, please leave."

Ron glared at Harry, wishing that he was sober enough to jinx the black-haired bastard.

"Fuck you Harry. When did you get so fucking boring?" he stalked out of the house and left the front door wide open behind him.

Harry sighed, wondering when the rift between his two best friends occured. Ron had taken to fame like a duck to water, he enjoyed it, relished in the attention from the press, the fans and more specifically the women who would throw themselves at him. He had been forever covering up Ron's affairs to Hermione, coming up with any excuse that he knew would work with the witch.

Hermione had gone the other way, she had scurried from the camera, preferring to stay at home rather than go out, relishing in what was familiar and holding on to as much of her childhood that she could, since hers had been taken away by being at the heart of the war. He guessed that was why she wanted to wait until marriage and he didn't judge her for it, unlike Ron.

A pair of hands placed themselves onto Harry's shoulders, and he leaned back into the arms of his wife.

"What was all that about?" she asked.

"Ron just… Just getting annoyed over who Hermione spent tonight with instead of you."

"Who?"

"I think I heard the phrase 'Slytherin boys'. Probably Theo and Blaise, they go out quite a lot. I've spoken to them a few times, they're pretty good guys you know."

"Is she safe with them?" Ginny asked, knowing the risks that came with knowing anyone in Slytherin.

"Yes, she is," Harry turned around and wrapped his large arms around his small wife, kissing the top of her head, "Let's go back to bed."

* * *

Hermione woke up in a large and extremely comfortable bed, tucked under the thick duvet. Light was pouring in through a large set of double doors, one slightly ajar letting a soft breeze into the room.

She rolled out of the bed and stood up, stretching her arms out to release her muscles from the grasp of sleep. She looked around the room which must have been Draco's, the simple yet elegant furniture match his sense of being and style.

She headed towards the door which she assumed was the way out, but turned out to be an ensuite bathroom. She used the opportunity to look at herself in the mirror.

Her hair has started to become frizzy again and her eye makeup was smudge down the front of her face. Using toilet tissue and water she fixed her face as best as she could and ran her fingers through her tangled curls.

She tried the other door this time, which was the correct choice as she found herself stood at one end of the balcony of books that overlooked the living room.

He was sat on the sofa with a small boy in his arms, with with tousled white hair. They were watching something on the television and the boy kept answering the questions that one of the characters asked.

She didn't know what to do. Should she go downstairs and say goodbye, but let Scorpius see her, which could create and awkward situation for Draco? Or should she just go back into the bedroom and apparate away, leaving them undisturbed.

The answer was decided for her when Scorpius looked over his father's shoulder and saw her leaning on the balcony, "Hello Miss!" he shouted up to her and waved vigorously at her.

Draco looked over his shoulder as well and smiled at her. A bright genuine smile, unlike one she had ever seen from him before. He nodded his head slightly at the empty seat next to him, gesturing that she should come downstairs.

When she reached the bottom Scorpius was waiting for her, his hands on his hips and his head tilted slightly, as though he was a teacher waiting for a late student.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Hermione Granger. Who are you?"

"I'm Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy! Don't you have a middle name? Daddy said that only the best people have middle names and if you don't have one then I guess you're not a best person."

Hermione smiled and sat on the step in front of the boy, "My middle name is Jean, it's my mother's name."

"My mummy's name is Astoria. But it would be silly for me to have that as a middle name because that's a girl's name. And I'm not a girl. Are you my new mummy?"

"No Scorpius, I'm not. You're daddy helped me out last night and he let me stay here overnight so I could stay safe," she almost scoffed. Her? With Draco Malfoy? That pairing could only come from a child, someone who didn't know them or their past.

Draco came up behind Scorpius and scooped him up as though he were a bag of feathers, "I hope you're being nice to our guest Mr Malfoy."

"Of course daddy. I'm always nice," he gave his father a big smile, showing all of his little white teeth.

"I should be going now, thank you so much for letting me stay. You didn't have to," Hermione said.

"I wanted to help, it was nothing really. Listen, next week I'm going to dinner with Theo and Blaise, I'm sure they won't object to you joining us as you seemed to get along really well and those guys don't threaten to jinx someone for just anyone. What do you think?"

"I'd love too, thank you. Where should I be? At what time?"

"Don't you worry about a thing, just be ready for around seven thirty on Friday and dress for fancy."

She nodded enthusiastically, "I'll be ready, it's a date!"

She felt her face flush red as soon as she uttered the words, date suggested intimate, romance. Something she didn't think she would have for a while.

"A date," Draco repeated, "I'll see you then. I'd take the lift down before you apparate or Tom will wonder if I've kidnapped you," he walked her over to the lift and Scorpius pushed the button for her.

"Thank you Scorpius."

"Bye Hermany!" Scorpius waved vigorously again.


End file.
